Another point to pick up from this afternoon’s Downing Street press conference was when chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty said anti-viral pills for Covid-19, which were approved by the UK earlier this month, needed a “rethink”.
“On the anti-virals, we are going to have to do a bit of a rethink on the basis of this new variant just to be confident we’ve got the right indications from it,” Whitty said.
He said that it was vital to make sure the drugs were used in the “most effective way and for the right people”.
Perhaps this will help? Masks in restaurants a.k.a. Hospitality are part of ‘Plan B’ which was planned c. 2 months ago, pre Omicron, but the full Plan B button hasn’t been pushed yet as the evidence is non-conclusive…and we only have 2 known cases
But the government hasn’t gone for its full plan B. Masks won’t be mandatory in hospitality settings in England like they are in Scotland and Wales.
Beyond tired of the “X is useless” comments when the point is to delay as much time before everyone gets it vs when we can get the vaccines on that variant/strain/whatever by that logic masks are pointless and might as well say the same thing on vaccines, since that’s only increased protection rather than some sort of lock.
I was in London for a business trip week before last, and I was staying in the City of London. Every pub was absolutely packed (like shoulder to shoulder), and it was impossible to eat at any restaurant within walking distance (on a Tue, Wed) because they were fully booked.
All in all, I was pretty shocked by the lack of even the most basic of COVID protocols. My USA #1 red state municipality has far higher consideration for COVID with lower case rates.
A lot of places actively flout any restrictions in place. A list of places in Prague that do that was posted on the subreddit for it. And honestly that list is short a lot of places because sadly most don’t give a shit no matter how bad it gets.
I too live in bumfucksville, England and the pubs are dying a death, half the hotels have closed and not many of us are dining out. Mask use is ~30% (but it’s not law to wear a mask since July, we’ll it wasn’t until a few hours ago).
Cummon, be like me thinking Vegas is typical of the US covid measures today, what with it’s less than half-price rooms and shows.
Well I happened to go to Vegas on a business trip in October, and the COVID protocols and general consideration were FAR stronger than London. In Nevada you have to wear a mask in any indoor area. It was definitely a surprise for me after not leaving the US since 2019 to encounter what I experienced in London.
Glad to hear you’re getting it right over there. I personally have the fortitude to be able to reject business / leisure trips, restaurants and pubs etc. but can believe your experiences. US still rockin a disprortionate death rate to the UK so may be those London types were all trebled vaxxed and living it up vs the US anti-vax brigade skewing your stats. These free LFT’s we’ve been getting for 6 months now also build some confidence. But ya, not the type of behaviour I’m ready to go back to yet.
I think if you find the all of UK stats for things like in store shopping and restaurant attendance you are going to be surprised at how close to pre pandemic levels it is.
Has lagged much more in the US than dining, would expect the same in UK.
Dining about 90 percent of pre pandemic in UK. Closer to parity in US.
UK and US two of the most similar COVID response countries, two of the most let’s get back to normal cultures, and two of the worst at preventing sickness and death so the battles on here always amuse me since both are abject lessons in what to avoid each with their own special weaknesses.
Do you have to drag the chat this way. Seriously, I’m not chest beating the UK response by any measure. Both shitty responses
Who knows where we’ll be in a couple of months time but UK looking close to 10x less deaths with ~5.5x less population, 7 day daily average… 3x more testing the UK too ergo we’re probably more accurate on covid deaths. Also not 50 different ways of calling a covid death, a covid death.
I see what you did there. That’s revenue and doesn’t take into account the soaring costs but admittedly you’re closer than I was with my 50%. I think it’s early 70% if you don’t just look compared revenue to 2 years ago.
21/11/21 FT
The UK hospitality industry has far from recovered to pre-pandemic trading despite tax breaks and increased spending per customer over the summer, the latest sector data shows.
